GRIFFON SOFTBALL WEEKEND PREVIEW
at Arkansas-Monticello Division II Challenge | Bentonville, Arkansas
Game 1: Thursday, Feb. 8 at 12 p.m. vs Harding at Memorial Park - 1 | Live Stats
Game 2: Thursday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. vs. Arkansas-Monticello at Tiger Athletic Complex | Live Stats
Game 3: Friday, Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. vs Emporia State (2-3) at Tiger Athletic Complex | Live Stats
Game 4: Friday, Feb. 9 at 12 p.m. vs Arkansas Tech (3-1) at Memorial Park - 5 | Live Stats | Watch

ST. JOSEPH - There will be no shortage of story lines when Griffon softball takes the field for each of its first four games of the 2018 season at the Arkansas-Monticello Division II Challenge in Bentonville, Arkansas. 

Beyond breaking in a host of newcomers, Missouri Western opens the event with the team that handed the Griffons one of their two-straight losses in last season's Central Region Championships (Harding). The second game of opening day pits the Griffons against host Arkansas-Monticello which downed Missouri Western 14-7 in five innings early last season. On Friday, Missouri Western plays a non-conference game against Emporia State. The Hornets knocked the Griffons out of the 2017 MIAA Championships in the semifinal round. Perennial central region contender Arkansas Tech is the final opponent of the weekend for Missouri Western. While the Griffons have fared well in the regular season against the Golden Suns -- 2-0 last year -- ATU is consistently one of the teams the Griffons are battling for a spot in the regional and often in postseason competition. 

While motivation is aplenty, 17th-year Griffon head coach Jen Bagley Trotter may need to give her team a history lesson if the past is to be a motivator. Trotter's 2018 squad features nine new position players and one new pitcher. The roster is void of six Griffons who started some, if not most of the Griffons' 38 wins in 2017. The host of new names didn't seem to excite MIAA coaches as Missouri Western was picked second in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll. Trotter has led the Griffons to four-straight regional appearances and seven-straight seasons of winning at least 35 games. The three-time MIAA Coach of the Year enters 2018 as the active wins leader (573) among MIAA head coaches and just 41 wins behind all-time leader Rhesa Sumrell.

It will be the first of two-straight weekends in Bentonville for the Griffons. Missouri Western will be back next weekend for the Arkansas-Monticello Nine State Classic. This week's event was originally scheduled to be played on Feb. 10 and 11, but had to be moved up due to weather concerns. An annual host of the crossover events in Bentonville, Arkansas-Monticello is actually located more than 300 miles from Bentonville.